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Thursday, March 31, 2011

After our last show in Europe was complete we drove overnight from Cologne, Germany to London for an 11AM flight to Las Vegas, NV. After our nearly two month adventure across the pond I was ready to be home…well, not quite home but much closer. Las Vegas was waiting for us to arrive for a four night residency at The Cosmopolitan and do our version of a 'Lounge' set. Two per night to be exact. Not really a lounge set but that's what I pictured in that type of setup. I so wanted to give my best Tony Clifton to this event but abstained for the sake of our contractual obligation. We arrived to warm greetings by our soldier on the ground, Haystack. "YEAHHHH!!!", "Not makin' dollars, not makin' sense…YEAHHH!!", "Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching' for the stars…YEAAHHHHHH!!!!"…Yeah that's right, Haystack.

We were greeted by valet, checked in to our spots and each fell back in our rooms for the next 26 hours. Jet lag took ahold for the next couple days to where all we really saw of Vegas was the domicile we were hibernating in. Honestly felt like a vacation with all the amenities and a little bit of work at the end of each day. Nice!

I was continually amazed that the women that frequent luxury hotel/casinos, all had on the obligatory tube dress, fashioned to cover one centimeter below view of the vagina and one centimeter above the nipple.

Don't get me wrong…I appreciate the effort but when the constant gaggle of boob droids roll by looking like the apocalyptic Attack of the Slutty Clones, you start to feel like someone is staging an event or conducting a mass experiment to rouse the attention of ogling D-bags that snort Viagra.

I DO have to say that The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas has to be the best spot on the strip. They were very hospitable and looked after us the whole time with friendly smiles. Great music in the elevators and lobbies, incredibly comfortable rooms with great views of the Vegas life on the strip below. I can't remember the last time I could actually fit in a bathtub.

On a whim, I was asked to sing The National Anthem for ESPN's Friday Night Fights Boxing Match held at The Cosmopolitan. I was reluctant for a moment and decided FUCK IT…why not? I thought I would give it a shot. I had about 27 people tell me, "Don't pull a Christina Aguilera and screw up the words!" I had committed the words to memory from the sub-par sports career of my youth, (I call those the "team building" years) so I wasn't too terribly concerned with that. I was, however concerned with my voice cracking like Peter Brady on puberty at the moment of truth. Got through it alright…"A bit pitchy, dog" as Randy Jackson might say but hey, what the hell.

YES, I was nervous as shit.

I will say that after our long journey across Europe seeing so many beautiful countries and the variety of culture AND in light of the progression of our current political conflicts, the song meant something different to me. I was humbled. When the crowd began to cheer towards the end, I had never felt such pride and for the honor of being able to perform the song, I am incredibly grateful. Plus it was at a boxing match and not a figure skating competition, so that's cool.

The rest of the time at the Cosmopolitan was a great experience. Many, many friends made it their excuse to travel out to Sin City to get loose and it was great to see them.

We played the rest of our double set nights like it was the first night of tour and ended with full hearts as we closed the chapter on the most intense journey to date.

I'm in LA right now, watching Dynamite Walls soundcheck for their big KROQ show at the Roxy, but if you're in San Diego tonight, I'd love for you to go support my SoundDiego team at the Firehouse in PB. The show is free and features Inspired Flight and Hyena. It kicks off at 7:30pm so get in your cars, limos, party busses or bicycles and get over there! The roof only holds 150 people, so don't dilly dally.

I'm trying to put these listings together for the weekend, but the April Fool's joke is on me, apparently, because calendars are just not being updated. I will do my best to update, and if you've got something I missed, leave a comment, but here's what I've got for now. Friday listings are after the jump (click 'keep on reading' at the bottom of this post)

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

I don't like change. I don't like when Facebook changes the way I can invite people to events (but somehow allows others to send me 50 invites a day), I don't like when blogger messes with my formatting by sticking spaces in every line I type, and I don't like having to dig for listings because some cheesy web designer convinced you everything should be in Flash (it shouldn't). I'm gonna sign off today and maybe I'll be less cranky later. Thursday listings are after the jump. I'm hoping to finish the weekend listings tonight since (Yay!) I'll be on the road again tomorrow, heading up to The Roxy with Dynamite Walls. And don't forget, PETER BUCK is playing the Casbah tonight. Kind of a big deal and The Baseball Project has some super fun tunes, so be there!Wednesday March 30, 2011:

Finally home from the 5 night stint in Las Vegas that closed the chapter on our two month journey. Still reeling from the recent barrage of events passed, I find myself at home, shuffling about on scarce fumes of energy between intervals of consciousness. It seems like that is the normal pre-recovery adjustment when you hit the emergency brake on a 90 mph tour schedule.

I guess the last place that I left off was our escape from Prague in a rented van. I'm sad to say that our splitter van, The White Rider has gone to the big mechanic in the sky and will be sorely missed. We drove her to the ground…although I do have a sneaking suspicion the garage may have hosed us and is using the van as Milosh's Gypsy Taxi Service. A fuel pump can't be that hard to find. Whatevs…we made the shows and got back to the states in one piece.

CITIES WE PLAYED WITH ROMPER ROOM VAN:

MUNICH- Got some beers and bockwurst at the Hofbräuhaus. Bockwurst was identical to a 7-11 Big Bite and our waiter was a total dick. Andy stole a commemorative beer glass to feel better about the experience.

Awesome graffiti on the outside of the venue

ZURICH- In and out…barely had time to see anything apart from the Swiss Alps to our left as we drove in and the reflections of the villages on the perfectly still lakes at night as we made our way to Italy after the show. That was beautiful. We were also drunk and being incredulous so you can take that with a grain of salt but I remember it as beautiful!

BOLOGNA- Show was in an airplane hanger in a deserted parking lot. Cooker was extremely paranoid about theft so I was on heightened alert the whole time. After the show we went to a club where the Crocodiles were doing a DJ set. Everything went foggy after that…I do remember Card making requests and dropping his beer on the ground immediately after. Awesome!

TOULOUSE- Le Bikini was the coolest venue. They had a swimming pool and a rad set up for the bands. The owner of the place was the chef as well. He prepared a three course meal for all three bands and crew, the main dish being my favorite, Duck Confit. Finished off with red wine and a serving of almond crusted ice cream. DAAAAMN! Felt spoiled. After show was a backstage party with the bands. Someone made off with my crazy disco laser pen…I'm looking' fer yew! Following Marco from the Crocodiles lead I wound up crawling on the ledge of the third story window to the White Lies dressing room. What a tit. Made for a funny entrance…Thanks for spearheading that movement Marco! Life and limb is a small sacrifice for a good laugh.

HIGHLIGHT- Daniel was leaving the Crocodiles' van after they dropped us off at the hotel and had an EPIC wipeout in the middle of the street. Cooker got footage. AMAZING.

The drive between Bologna and Toulouse was incredible, as was the trip to Barcelona.

BARCELONA- Great crowd. Very enthusiastic about the set. Also ran into some babies who had made their way both from France AND the UK to come and support. So incredible. This was also Cooker's last show with us on the tour. He was stoked to get a shout from both the Crocodiles and White Lies dedicating songs to him for his send off. Wish we had more time in the city. Had such a cool vibe. I was able to get some rad shots of some graffiti at the skate park next to the venue.

Here is a photo of Crocodiles' Anna and Brandon playing baseball backstage with the fruits and veggies. Shaun's depth perception is a little off as this pitch exploded his cigarette in his face.

MADRID- This show was unique as the stage setup was very tight. It was cool playing close together on stage. Also really enjoyed watching the Crocodiles and White Lies perform in this setting as well. Very Rock and Roll. Post show, we went out with our friend and host for the evening Byron. A couple friendly fans joined us for a nightcap at a pub that reminded me of a Spanish Casbah. COOL! About five minutes after we parted ways we heard a scream in the distance. Investigated the sound and found it to be that one of the friends we were with got her purse snatched off of her arm. Didn't get the purse just broke it, but scared the shit out of the poor girl. All turned out ok and nobody got hurt. Just shaken…petty thieves are bold as hell.

The trip to Bordeaux, FR was very scenic. We traveled through the Pyrenees Mountains on the border of France and Spain which made for some incredible views. It made us prematurely nostalgic as we felt the end of the tour coming closer by the moment.

BORDEAUX- I don't particularly remember what the hell happened here. Hazard of the road worn brain. The venue…the place we stayed…shit. I DO remember drinking whiskey backstage and Anna (Crocodiles) talked me into dedicating a song to her and Robin in French. For all I know, I may have said "Hello, I'm wearing an adult diaper!". Ahhhh the faith. I don't think so!

RENNES- Great food! We played the set and ate a fantastic meal afterward. The kid that served all the bands dinner was wearing an Alf shirt! So tubular. Just before we played this show, Anna (Ginger Princess/tour mgr/Queen Bee) MADE us drink whiskey as we were so lethargic before our set time approached…whaddaya know, it worked! Ginger smarts.

We drove for a few hours after the show to make it to Cologne by the next day as we were meeting the White Lies crew for dinner on our day off. This was to be our last show before heading back to the states. Dinner was at a cool German restaurant and was great. White Lies gents picked up the tab, once again proving their chivalry and graciousness. After dinner we went to a small pub nearby and celebrated the last chance to tie one on with our new mates and surrogate road kin. Weird jukebox with a cross-eyed robotic accordion player along with his tuba playing sidekick split our sides with laughter as they squawked out Michael Jackson's 'Billy Jean', polka style. Unreal…It was like Chuckee Cheese in the German Twilight Zone.

COLOGNE- Before we went to the venue we explored the main square where we saw the Cologne Cathedral.

Blown away by the size of this gothic structure. A monolithic spectacle. We wandered about before heading to the venue to prepare for the grand finale.

The show was televised on WDR Rockpalast. So many incredible bands have had history on this program and it was quite an honor to join the list. Our set was accompanied by the White Lies crew doing our sound and lights as a final gesture before we split off the tour. I have to say one last time how amazing of a time we had getting to know everyone. Crocodiles and White Lies made this tour an amazing journey for us and we shall pour 3oz's of each 40 on the ground as tribute to each of you wild bastards…one for my homeys. RESPEC

After the last show we played in Cologne, DE, we drove all night to London to catch our flight directly to Las Vegas where we were set to do 4 nights in a row at The Cosmopolitan. Two sets each night, 10-11 and 12-1…Now about Vegas…

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Here are the listings for Tonight, with Wednesday and Thursday after the jump. My browser is still messing with me, so apologies for the funky spacing. I don't know why I have to use multiple browsers to do very simple tasks, but that's what happens when upgrages happen in one place and not another. If I am typing in html, one would think that WYSIWYG, but not the case. I'm frustrated. Gonna have to go shake it off at Fitz & The Tantrums. See you there!

In my running around at SXSW, my initial strategy was to use this massive spreadsheet I'd created with all the bands and parties I was hoping to see. Fat chance of that happening. Later, my strategy was to text friends, see where and when they were playing, and if I heard back, attempt to see them. On Friday morning, I text messaged Steve Poltz and lo and behold, he was playing at noon, so I decided to make his show my first stop of the day, and kill two birds with one stone since he was also playing at the Sea Shepherd (i.e. Whale Wars) party that Indigenous was behind. Unfortunately, I didn't realize just how far of hike it was from where I was staying, so I arrived for just his last two songs. On the positive, White Sea was playing after him, so I got to catch up with Ray Suen and catch he and Morgan playing a short set. This is "Cannibal Love".

Yesterday I got a press release that theire first music video was launching on MTVu, so here's that one, too.

Tapes 'n Tapes recently made their way back to the Casbah where Santa Barbara's Gardens & Villa opened up and damn near stole the show. More after the jump.

Leading off a rare two-band evening at the Casbah, Gardens & Villa took to a very crowded stage (they were working with most of T 'n T's equipment surrounding them) and a steadily growing crowd. Sezio had the early word on these gents from up the coast and they were very much on point in their promotion. Their I-can't-quite-pin-it-down style of electro indie pop draws comparisons to Passion Pit, but there's also a little Suckers-esque weirdness (in a good way) that plays very well on stage. Lead man Chris Lynch splits time with vocals, guitar and a quiver of wooden flutes to impressive effect while the rest of the quartet shares in vocal duties while mixing in musically. It all came together quite well and left everyone in attendance saying 'Wow- who are these guys?'. Look for them to be the featured act at a venue in your neighborhood in the near future (as well as opening up for Cuckoo Chaos at Soda Bar on April 29).

Gardens & Villa:

Tapes 'n Tapes' first trip back to SD in just over two years coincided with the last stop of their tour before they headed east to catch the tail end of SXSW. Playing in benefit of their newly released third full length album Outside, the Minneapolis-based four-piece showed just what a few years of experience can do for a live performance. Not that they were bad the last time around- far from it. This time they came across as a much more polished, professional band with a healthy dose of stage presence. They ripped through an hour plus of tracks from The Loon, Walk It Off and their newest album, ranging from the blistering 'Insistor' to the downtempo 'Omaha' to a grateful sold out crowd before calling it a night and packing up the van for the long drive to Austin.

Tapes 'n Tapes:

More pix from the evening click here and the rest of my concert photography here.

Monday, March 28, 2011

So I was really gonna stay offline today, but I just got a press release about Breaking Laces and it's kinda funny. Billy and Seth of Breaking Laces were the guys I hung out with on Friday at Bar 96 in Austin. Seth wasn't doing well when we met. Apparently he'd fallen and hurt his wrists. I was sure at least one was broken judging by the swelling. He sat with me and asked me to text his friends from his phone to let them know he was ok. He even asked me to call his mom, but I wasn't about to freak out the family of a stranger. Later that night I helped them get a cab, which we shared when they dropped me at the Bright Eyes show, though the line was around the block so I ended up just walking back to 6th.

They asked if I was gonna blog about them to which I responded, "I dunno. I mean, it would be incredibly awkward if you sucked." Fortunately they don't. Willem's vocals are compared to Ben Gibbard's and their record, When You Find Out, is hook-laden without being hokey. Some of the poppier songs remind me of Sumack, which was easily one of my favorite bands in my twenties. I didn't realize when they told me they only had three records on them that I was getting an advance that doesn't come out until May, so in retrospect, I feel pretty special.

After listening to the record more than a few times, I feel like there are two distinct and separate personalities. There's the catchy simplicity of "When Your Find Out" and "Shopping For One" that remind you of hand holding and sweet relationship beginnings, while songs like "Bone Dry" or "What We Need" hit the complexities of deeper relationships. One of my favorites is "Laser Beams" and it could almost be about SXSW. "The pain rains out of me/I hurt my head on laser beams/The pain rains outta me/and I'm so scared I can't believe"

I love this record and think you will, too. Seth needs some time to heal before they hit some east coast dates, but you better believe that when they come to California I will be all over it.

Here's the full press release:

Brooklyn-based rock trio Breaking Laces headed down to Austin to play four SXSW showcases, meet people, make connections, drink beer, catch some shows and head home to get ready for the release of their highly anticipated upcoming release, When You Find Out. But things didn't go exactly as planned....

While the band did play all four gigs, the last two were quite an accomplishment - band drummer, Seth Masarsky, hit the kit with two broken wrists! Such devotion to rocking out regardless of injury, earned Seth and the band the official True Grit Award from The U.N.C.L.E. SXSW 2011 Spirit Awards.

Breaking Laces' songwriter and lead singer, Willem Hartong tells the tale: "The first rule of Austin Fight Club is that we don't talk about the fact that Seth found his way into a basement Friday night and got Tyler Durdened. Sounds a lot better than, don't drink while walking, right? No matter the story, fact is we can now honestly say we live up to our name, Breaking Laces. It's a true accomplishment."

Breaking Laces upcoming release, When You Find Out, is stockpiled with Hartong's smart, witty, humorous and honest songs ranging from pop ditties to distortion-influenced rock. The 12-song album, set for May 17 release, consolidates and focuses the salient qualities of the band's prior work, while venturing into some exciting new musical territory with instantly memorable tunes such as "What We Need," "Here to Stay," "Laser Beams" and "Carry On."

Sometimes my browser decides to mess with me, like today, it decided to put spaces between everything. When I attempt to correct this in html, it just adds more spaces. I'm over trying to fix it. It has been a long two weeks for me, and though I'm not sick, I think I'm taking a personal day today. I just need to not be online, not be working, not be at a show. I might change my mind later, especially because I wanna see the debut of Porcelain Fangs, featuring Marshall Wilcoxson, one of my favorite people in the SD music scene. Monday March 28, 2011:

Sunday, March 27, 2011

We drove back from Vegas yesterday and went straight to Tin Can to see d/wolves, Milagres, and The New Assembly, then it was home, straight to bed, and I woke up to go do load-in at Suds for Surgery with the Conways, but turns out they can keep their gear in their vehicle until showtime, so instead we had breakfast at El Zarape, they dropped me back home, giving me time to clean up my filthy house a little and get some photos uploaded before heading down to the event. In case you're wondering, Geezer is on first around 12:30, then Missy Anderson around 1:45, then Jesse LaMonaca and the Dime Novels at 3, and Safety Orange closing the stage around 4:15 or so. The event is outdoors, so it will be hot if the coastal eddy burns off, otherwise it's nice and a little cool out at the moment. Here are the rest of the listings for today. See you at the Handlery!!

Since I still haven't had the chance to label and post all of my SXSW videos, I thought I'd post the set that Matt Haeck did at Bar 96 on Friday. That was such a fun day...I ran around from Matt's to the Zona Rosa for Steve Poltz and White Sea, then to Rusty Spurs for Dynamite Walls and AM, then to Bar 96 where I caught Matt, Grampa Drew, The Romany Rye, Robotanists, and a few others. That's also when I met Billy and Seth from Breaking Laces. And that was all before 8pm. Click the right and left arrows to see all eight videos. I will try and get labels and titles up soon. Where is that intern I ordered??

I have roadtrip fever. I want to be on the road all of the time, which is pretty funny since I haven't driven a car in nearly two years. If anyone wants to hit the road, any bands need a band mom, a road blogger, you let me know. In the meantime, I'm heading out to Vegas for a quick jaunt to catch Transfer at The Cosmopolitan. The shows are free, so if you happen to be heading to Vegas or get a wild hair and wanna do a quickie roadtrip on your own, I'll see you there. I'll be back tomorrow and our room has wi-fi, so hopefully I can finish uploading all of these SXSW photos. You can always follow my adventures here, on twitter, and on facebook if you wanna catch the inane things in my head. HUGE thanks to Jeff for doing this weekend's listings. We're gonna have a blast in Vegas. I promise I won't go missing. Just in case I don't get to update my listings, I'm posting Friday and Saturday.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Last week, I excitedly wrote about CHAPPO while I was watching them perform in Austin. They're in town tonight, playing a free show at Bar Pink (along with The Howls and Kelli Schaeffer). It's true that I spent the majority of my time in Austin tailing San Diego bands as best I could, but I did happen to catch plenty of bands from other places and in retrospect, CHAPPO was still one of my standouts.

I wish I could sleep for a week. Honestly, I'm having the time of my life but I am exhausted. Since I've been back from Austin, I've been on a bar hop, have seen The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Boats, Foster The People, O'Death, Dom, and Heavy Hawaii, had 4 meetings and sat in on one band rehearsal. Tomorrow I'm doing a quick 36 or so hour trip to Vegas to see Transfer at the Cosmopolitan. Jeff is my hero and did this weekend's listings for you. Friday through Sunday are after the jump.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

I'm having major withdrawals. I want to absorb music 24/7. I miss being in a tour van with Dynamite Walls. I miss being elbow to elbow at shows. I miss people being excited about music. Hopefully tonight's show at the Belly Up brings some of that excitement back, and after spending the afternoon at rehearsal with Jesse LaMonaca and the Dime Novels, I'm excited to sink my teeth into any possibilities I can. This week has some killer shows so rest up and get out.

This Sunday, March 27, the Handlery Hotel & Resort is hosting the 2nd Annual “Suds for Surgeries” from noon to 6pm. The event features four bands, including Missy Anderson, Jesse LaMonaca and the Dime Novels, Safety Orange, and Geezer. The event also featurs 15 chefs and 30 local craft breweries. All tastings are unlimited.

The event raises money for Fresh Start Surgical Gifts, a not-for-profit organization that brings children with facial and other physical deformities to San Diego to receive free reconstructive surgeries and therapies at Rady’s Children’s Hospital.

Tickets are $35, but if you enter the promo code "sddialedin" when purchasing tickets, you'll get $5 off. Click the banner above to get to the ticketing site which has all band, chef and brewery information.

When I found out that I qualified for a press badge to SXSW, I hadn't made any real arrangements. I had an idea how I was getting there and back, but I knew that a hotel just wasn't in my budget. So when I tweeted about it and got a response from Matt Haeck, I was surprised that he'd moved to Austin in the first place (since I thought he was still in Nashville) and thrilled that I'd get to see him.

We met briefly when he was still in San Diego and I was quickly a fan of his music, but mostly we've kept in touch via twitter and facebook. He was incredibly kind and gracious to not just host me, but my two travel companions as well, and we had a great time in Austin in large part because Matt showed us the ropes. One late night, after drunkenly stumbling home and still not wanting to sleep, I convinced Matt to bust out his guitar to play a little session for me in the quad of his apartment complex. It was nearly 4 am and so the video is really dark, but personally I just think it was the perfect capture of a perfect night. Click the right or left arrows to click to the next video.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

I'm back from South By Southwest and it was an incredible week. It was exhausting, but also inspiring, eye-opening, and full of surprises. There are no breaks, however, and many of the bands that played in Austin are circling our way and this week is packed with incredible shows, so if you weren't in Texas, enjoy the benefit of the festival bands coming to you.

Without the convenience of something like 6th Street in San Diego, you might have to just pick one a night, but believe me, the bands coming through were some of the top buzzed about bands at the festival, so be sure to check them out while you can. My rough plan for the week is to catch The Soundtrack of Our Lives at Belly Up, then race down for Boats at Soda Bar, catch Foster The People on Tuesday at the Belly Up, then get to Tin Can for O'Death. On Wednesday, I'll probably be at the Casbah all night, then attempt to catch Dom at Soda Bar, and on Thursday I'll hop between West Coast Tavern for Jesse, Bar Pink for CHAPPO, and if time allows, catch Parson Red Heads at Tin Can. Phew. That is a helluva week.

Monday March 21, 2011:

Casbah Presents: The Soundtrack Of Our Lives, The Drowning Men @ Belly Up

Dynamite Walls, Rowley and I all got back to San Diego safely and naturally we had to stop for California Burritos and other delicious grub at El Zarape. As we left back to the van where we were planning on moving gear from the trailer into the van, we were walking down Park about to turn the corner, hoodies up because it was starting to rain, a man got off the bus and started following us. He was gay bashing, loud enough and close enough to us that we knew he was threatening us. "The thing I hate about San Diego is all the F-ing faggots. I'll slice their f-ing throats..." and continued in a mumbly rant. I turned around. Maybe because he realized I'm a chick or maybe because we weren't going to confront him, I don't know, but I made eye contact with him and he changed direction, crossed the street and went on his way. Who knows what state of mind he's in and what can happen, but just always be cautious of your surroundings. It's easy to feel so safe in our cute little neighborhoods. The dude was average height, about 5'10", slightly buff, flannel shirt, hair shaved close to his head. Possibly Aryan Nation, couldn't really tell but definitely had the look and the rage.

I'm not sure if these photos posted yet, so just in case, here are some pics from Friday. I'm sitting in the back of Dynamite Walls' van on our drive home from Texas. We're listening to Transfer and hoping to grab from Tucson. We have now been driving about 15 hours. We cut out a day early so I didn't do a bunch of things I'd wanted, but overall it was a great trip so let's see what I can remember.

Friday morning I woke up to a text from Steve, which is when I made the crazy hike to Annie's West. He was awesome, and I stuck around to catch Colour Revolt (awesome- should tour with Republic of Letters) and White Sea, which is Ray Suen's latest project with Morgan from M80. I hopped in a cab since I was late for Dynamite Walls' set at Rusty Spurs. I had also been trying to link up with my friend Pete McNeal, and it was serendipitous when I saw him walk in after DW's set. He was playing with another friend, AM, so it was pretty cool that they linked up. I also noticed Adam Duritz of Counting Crows. I'll get back to that later.

From Rusty Spurs, I hopped in a pedi cab to Bar 96 to see Matt Haeck play. There was a pretty cool lineup there, so I ended up hanging there for a while, also catching Grampa Drew and The Romany Rye among others. I met a couple guys from a band called Breaking Laces from Brooklyn and ended up hanging with them for a bit until I walked them to the Four Seasons to grab a cab.

They dropped me at the Opera House where at least 300 people were in line. I love Bright Eyes, but I'd rather go someplace I can actually get in without a line, so I hoofed back to 6th and decided to wander. I ended up at Latitude 30 for another British Embassy showcase. Pyles came to meet me and we loved this band called Little Comets. We left to see The Joy Formidable at Buffalo Billiards, this cool spot with the stage up on the third floor. The line was pretty insane there, but Pyles found some friends who got us in. It was fun hanging with Capone from 91X, Lisa from KROQ, Kevin Hellman, Dead Air Dave and Marc from U.N.K.L.E. Fun times. The Joy Formidable were cool enough but it was more about hanging with cool people for me.

I saw Adam Duritz at the table over from us, so I finally thought of something to say to him other than "I tweet at you all the time" but he was in the middle of a long winded conversation, and he looked at me in a "save me" kinda way as he incorporated me into a discussion about Pandora and the Music Genome Project. I asked about Rusty Spurs and he said he was hosting a showcase there on Saturday. He gave me a chocolate cupcake and I rejoined my friends. I heart Adam Duritz. Always have.

I'm pretty sure that was the end of my night, hanging on the balcony and stuff, though somehow I found some drunk guy along 6th and walked him toward home, which was near where I was staying, as he projectile vomited over the bridge into the river. Oh, Austin, how I love thee.
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